Movies

2021 Fall Dining Guide

News from 14th-century France; Cousteau, the filmmaker

The Last Duel (9/10): 152 minutes. R. This comes right out and says it’s a true story. Certainly, the people, Sir Jean de Carrouges (Matt Damon), Jacques Le Gris (Adam Driver), Marguerite de Carrouges (Jodie Comer in a compelling performance), Pierre d’Alençon (Ben Affleck) the King’s cousin and a baron at the Court of Argentan, and King Charles VI (Alex Lawther) were real people. And it is true that Carrouges and Le Gris did fight the last legal duel to the death in 1386 before King Charles and a huge crowd of spectators.

Sir Jean’s wife, Marguerite, claimed that Le Gris, formerly Sir Jean’s best friend, raped her while she was alone in her castle, which Le Gris denies. Carrouges demanded that Le Gris be tried for rape. It is based on the book, “The Last Duel: A True Story of Trial by Combat in Medieval France,” 2004, by Eric Jager, a UCLA English professor.

This is not “The Knights of the Round Table” (1953) or “King Richard and the Crusaders” (1954), those shmaltzy almost comic-book ’50s attempts at recreating feudal Europe. Director Ridley Scott recreates a gritty, believable 14th-century France. The battle scenes are realistic, and the staging of the duel is convincing, if somewhat changed for cinematic purposes.

The movie tries to tell the story from the POV of each, Sir Jean, Le Gris, and Marguerite, sort of neo“Rashomon” (1950), and this doesn’t work as well because scenes are repeated three times, to little avail; frankly, I couldn’t see much difference. Some serious editing would make it a lot better. How many times do we have to view the rape scene?

Did this happen? Yes, absolutely; it is very well researched. Obviously, dialogue has been invented and some factual elements have been altered or assumed, but the basis of the story is accurate. It’s a nice lesson in history and a treat for the audience.

Only the Animals (8/10): 117 minutes. NR. This is a complex murder mystery involving people in Southern France and an African scammer 5,000 miles away, with realistic, but unforeseen, consequences, told in a fascinating, convoluted way. While it might take some patience to stay with the story as it jumps around, it is so well set up and brought together that it is a deserving sit. The only drawback, apart from the length, is that I thought it could be enhanced by better music. But that’s a minor complaint. In French.

Becoming Cousteau (8/10): 93 minutes. PG-13. Directed

At the Movies

with Tony Medley

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–Los Angeles Times by Liz Garbus and narrated by Vincent Cassel, this film follows Jacques Cousteau from his start in the ocean in the 1930s and follows him to his death in 1997. Cousteau says, “I become furious when they label my films documentary. That means a lecture by a guy who knows more than you. Our films are not documentaries. They are true adventure films.” Louis Malle says, “He is a filmmaker… Many directors I know could envy his sense of cinema.” Garbus had access to 550 hours of archival footage with nearly 100 hours of rarely seen footage from before Cousteau became one of the most important environmental figures of the 20th century. Unfortunately, it minimizes / fails to explain Cousteau’s marital infidelity.

The Beta Test (7/10): 93 minutes. NR. What if a man in a committed relationship were to receive a letter from an unidentified sender promising an anonymous sexual assignation at a hotel? In this thriller, written and directed by Jim Cummings and PJ McCabe, who also play lead roles, Jordan Hines (Cummings), an immediately unlikeable, indeed hateful, upwardly mobile Hollywood agent, gets such a letter. His every expression and action is smarmy and vile. Will he cheat on his beloved? One of the highlights of the film is the performance of Wilky Lau, who plays Raymond, a rich, influential man Jordan is pursuing. The way Raymond disses Jordan as he makes a fool of himself at Raymond’s party is memorable. The movie is a clear attack on Hollywood and the arrogance, narcissism, and superficiality of the agent class, and it has an appropriately inscrutable ending that leaves one thinking.

Dangerous (7/10): 99 minutes. R. The character “D” (Scott Eastwood, Clint’s son) is a true sociopath, apparently without emotions. He was convicted of killing someone and is nearing the end of his parole when he gets a letter from his brother’s wife advising him that his brother has died on a remote island, and the funeral is coming up. D breaks his parole and goes to the island, finding everything all fouled up, including his mother who obviously hates him. Things go from bad to worse with bad guys out to get him and everyone else on the island. Despite the illconceived, phantasmagoric denouement, this is enjoyable with good acting. Close your eyes for some of Scott’s lines and you can picture Clint.